


"Having that one special person changes everything"

by buggiesreign



Series: Bughead One Shots [7]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bughead as parents, Bullying, Soft Bughead, bughead - Freeform, bughead parents au, jughead helping his son, post riverdale au, soft Jughead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25036135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buggiesreign/pseuds/buggiesreign
Summary: Sam, Betty and Jugheads son, is being bullied at school, so Jughead decides to tell him the story of how he dealt with his own bullies and which special person helped him through all of it...
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: Bughead One Shots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1377049
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	"Having that one special person changes everything"

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, please excuse any mistakes I have made and enjoy reading   
> Inspired by a conversation with Ms. Ellie

Jughead was standing in the kitchen, chopping onions, while listening to one of his favorite rock albums, when he heard the door slam shut and footsteps running up the stairs, followed by yet another door being slammed shut.

Jughead furrowed his brows as he walked into the entry way of the house, Betty coming around the corner as well and looking at him confused. “Was that Sam?” she asked, Jughead nodding.

“Do you have any idea what the reason could be?” she asked, concern clear in her voice, mixed with confusion. Sam always talked to them when something was wrong, but this them he chose not to and it worried Jughead a little as well. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Jughead walked upstairs after Sam, trying to figure out a good way to approach this. He stood in front of Sams door, taking a deep breath, before lifting a hand to knock on the door. Betty meanwhile made her way back into the living room, tending to their newborn, Juliet.

“No! Go away!” Sam said, his voice giving away that he was upset. Jughead sighed and opened the door anyway, seeing Sam sit on his bed and leaning against the headboard, as he walked into the room. He walked towards the bed and sat down on the other end of it, looking at his son.

“Do you want to tell me why you came home from school upset?” Jughead asked and Sam sniffled, shaking his head slowly. “Often times it really helps to speak about the things that bother us and I won’t judge. I’ll be here and listen. Whatever it i-“

“I’m being bullied at school,” Sam interrupted another sniffle following. Jughead closed his eyes for a moment, his heart shattering a little, as he heard what his son had just confessed to him. He knew what bullying felt like and he wanted better for his own kids.

“I’m really sorry, Sam. What are they doing? And who?” he asked, not wanting to push too hard, but also wanting to make sure his son was alright, and the bullying didn’t get out of hand.

“There’s this kid, John, who likes to make fun of others and no one really says anything, because he’s popular and rich and they want to be his friends. I seem to be his most recent victim,” Sam explained, Jughead listening intently to what Sam was telling him. 

Sam continued explaining what was happening to him, “At first it was just a mean joke here and there, but then name calling started and the jokes got worse. And with time he also began pushing me in the halls, or spreading rumors about me.”

“I just want him to stop and to leave me alone. I don’t even know what I did wrong,” Sam said, his voice more upset than before. “Nothing. You did absolutely nothing wrong,” Jughead assured him and shifting a bit, to sit directly across from him.

“Let me tell you a story about my experience at school,” Jughead began and Sam nodded, looking up at his dad for the first time during this conversation.

Jughead was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts and thinking about how to say everything he wanted to tell his son. Jughead knew from experience that just saying ‘it gets better’ doesn’t do much, but he also knew what could make a difference. So he began telling Sam his own experience.

“I was bullied, too, for a while. Especially in middle school. It didn’t matter that I was friends with a jock and it didn’t matter if I stayed away, minding my own business. They found a way to harass me anyway. I felt horrible for a really long time. I didn’t know why they couldn’t just leave me alone. No matter if I stood up for myself or stayed quiet and let it happen, the bullying didn’t stop.”

“There was plenty of things that were wrong about me, according to them. And if, on rare occasion, they couldn’t find anything to make fun of, they just made stuff up. I hated going to school and just stuck with myself for most of it. All of this lasted pretty much throughout all of middle school.”

“But in high school, something changed,” he explained, his son listening contently and wiping his nose. “What changed?” Sam asked and Jughead smiled slightly to himself, looking down for a moment. A soft chuckle escaped him, as he looked up again, to continue his story.

“I became really good friends with this one girl. We had talked before and hung out from time to time with our shared best friend, but it wasn’t until I joined her club that we got closer. We started spending more time together and we helped one another, whenever we needed anything.”

“I had friends- well, one good friend, before her, that even tried to help with the bullying. It didn’t work. But something about her was so different. She couldn’t stop the bullying either, it kept on going for a while, but I felt less alone in all of it.”

“I knew that no matter what she’d stay by my side and she’d believe me. She trusted me and loved me. And something about having that one person, that anchors you, changed everything for me. She held my hand and stood by my side, through everything, no matter how hard things got. Having that one special person changes everything. It changes how you see the world and how much things affect you.”

“The bullying actually stopped a little while after I got close with her, because it stopped affecting me. So, in a way, I guess, she did stop the bullying. They got bored of doing it, when I just ignored them, and they noticed that it just left me cold. Because her words of adoration drowned out all the negativity, they threw my way. She saved me,” he finished, the smile on his face bigger than it has been when he started.

“What happened with the girl?” Sam asked curiously, the tears on his face now dry and the sniffles gone, as he looked at his dad questioningly. Jughead once again chuckled and shook his head. “I married her.”

“It was mom?” Sam asked surprised, his mouth slightly agape. Both Sam and Jug turned, when they heard a “Yes” coming from the doorframe. Betty was standing there, a huge smile on her face and Juliet in her arms. She walked towards them and Jughead scooted a bit, making room for Betty to sit on the bed as well.

“Just for the record, it wasn’t just me helping you dad. We saved one another,” she corrected, leaning back against Jughead, who had since shifted a bit, to make room for her to do so. Sam smiled at them and made his way over to them and hugging the both of them, careful not to hurt his little sister.

“I’m certain you’ll find your person, Sam. And until then, always remember that their words mean nothing, in reality. Their words are fueled by their own insecurities and they just aren’t mature enough to handle that. It’s not you, it’s them,” Jughead added, as he hugged back.

“What do you guys think of family night, with movies and pizza?” Betty suggested and giggled, when both her boys immediately agreed and nodded eagerly. “I’ll order the pizza, you guys pick a movie.”

All four of them got up from the bed and made their way downstairs into the living room and not another tear was seen that day, the house instead filled with laughter and their faces plastered with smiles, as the whole family cuddled up on the couch, to watch a movie, share pizza and talk about their days, while Juliet slept in the crib behind the couch.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it  
> Tell me what you thought of this one shot, please


End file.
